In the first clip (June 1932), Géza Paikert (not Alajos Paikert, as indicated in the title caption), son of Alajos Paikert, the retired director of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum (who was then in Cairo establishing a similar institution in Dokki) describes the preparations for the Almásy - Clayton expedition. The footage shown as illustration appears to be of Prince Kemal el Din's Citroen half-tracks, with Almásy appearing in the last seconds (in white aviator hat). This would indicate that the footage was taken after the expedition returned, when Almásy was in negotiation for a further expedition with the Prince's backing.

The second clip (August 1932) is the most significant, as it shows actual footage from the 1932 Almásy - Clayton expedition, including the camp near Jebels Peter & Paul, the take-off of the Moth, the spring at Ain Dua (Uweinat) and a flight along the cliffs of the Gilf. The last scene of an oasis and camels illustrates the narrative of finding the lost oasis within the Gilf, obviously taken elsewhere. (This is the only remaining trace of a motion picture taken by one of the expedition participants, possibly Almásy himself as he does not appear anywhere, the original is sadly lost.)

The third clip (March 1933) is a short scene taken at Al Maza airfield in Cairo, where a pair of hungarian aviators, on a flight around the Mediterranean, say goodbye to Almásy, who was then preparing for his forthcoming expedition. This is followed by a short scene of Gerle 13 (the aircraft) flying over the pyramids.

The Second Expanded Edition of the "Rock Art of the Libyan Desert" DVD had been published just before we left for the desert in autumn. Now it is available for purchase on this website, with a special discount of 50% applying to all who purchased the First Edition. Two exciting discoveries in 2009 by Hardy Böckli and Mark Borda confirmed that the characheristic polished "Darfur axes" may be found in the Gilf Kebir - Jebel Uweinat area, the Wadi Sora specimen is no longer a solitary example. The fauna pages have been updated with some of our November 2009 observations, with more updates in the works over the next weeks together with the flora pages.

21^st December, 2009

Following an absence of a hear and a half, we returned to Uweinat in November 2009. Everything went smoothly to plan, we had a very pleasant and succesful trip, the trip account is now on-line.

9^th September, 2009

Some months ago I have uncovered a treasure trove in the library of the Natural History Museum, London: the personal papers of L.J. Spencer, one time Keeper of Minerals. Spencer made an expedition with Patrick A. Clayton to the Libyan Desert Glass area, much of his correspondence relates to this journey. However in a thin folder labelled with Spencer's neat handwriting, there were a couple of papers related to the legendary Zerzura Club, with signed menu cards from the annual dinners containing the names of many of the great explorers of the Libyan Desert. This collection is the most complete to my knowledge on the Zerzura Club, founded by Bagnold and party in 1930, and it allowed me to put together a page on the Annual Zerzura Club Dinners. This is work in progress, subject to time available I will try to put together a biographical page on each of the members.

24^th August, 2009

It had been a long pause since I have had time to update the website, it was a rather busy and eventful year in my professional life. Fortunately I have a bit more time now to re-focus on my desert activities, you will find a number of updates accrss the website that I've completed over the past couple of weeks, and more to follow as I have time:

• A page to look back on the highlights of the past ten years since the website was launched in 1999, and an updated about us page.
• Announcement of several new expeditions from both Egypt and Libya to the Glf Kebir and Jebel Uweinat, and also a novel expedition aimed at the upper areas of the Brandberg mountain in Namibia, a structure and landscape remarkably similar to Uweinat, and also full of prehistoric rock art.
• An account of our February 2009 trip to the Gilf Kebir, organised together with BC Archaeology Travel.
• An account of our 2005 trip to Nabibia to provide some background and ideas on the planned Brandberg trip.
• A page on the amazing find of Mark Borda, a pharaonic inscription at Jebel Uweinat, proving that the hunches about the Abu Ballas trail were true.
• Updated the Practical Information page with a section on the Security Situation, in light of the recent incidents that happened in the Egyptian part of the Libyan Desert in 2008.

12^th June, 2008

After a long break I have finally managed to complete the project of translating all of Almásy's writings relevant to the Libyan Desert, including a corrected and annoted transcript of the Operation Salaam diary. A CD is available with the full text of these works, as well as some additions from other sources and articles, complete with all published original photos, and some of my own illustrating places mentioned in the text. The CD may be ordered on-line. Alternately the text of the individual books and the Salaam diary without any photos are available as PDF files that may also be ordered on-line.

15^th May, 2008

With consent from the finders and the family, I have added a page on the lost personal belongings of Alexander (Alec) Ross, found near Wadi Sora in 2007. Alec was a signalman with the Royal Signals, and later served as a dispatch rider with the LRDG. Unfortunately nothing of historical significance was found, however the photos and letters offer a fascinating snapshot of 1941/42 from a very personal perspective.

I have recently acquired second copies of several very rare titles on the Libyan desert, including an 1935 first edition of Bagnold's Libyan Sands. These are available for sale together with some other items, may be ordered and paid for online through PayPal.

14^th May, 2008

In February 2008 we were in Cairo with Magdi to prepare for the March trip. We had time to make a short visit to the northern Fayum, where this time we have been able to locate without any doubt the 1907 campsite of Walter Granger.

12^th May, 2008

The long overdue site update is now complete, with an account of our March trip, and an updated expeditions programme for 2009 and 2010.

Note, that the next available trip for which applications are accepted is for the autumn of 2009, all expeditions till then are fully booked.

22^nd August, 2007

I have finally completed the identification of the plant species seen during our October 2006 and March 2007 expeditions. I have revised many of the flora species pages, and added the observations of the remnant vegetation in Karkur Talh to the 2005 rains page, plus the description of the new growth associated with the small localised rains of 2006 in upper north western Karkur Talh. A detailed description of the remnant growth in Wadi Handal and the March 2007 observations of the remaining vegetation in Karkur Talh have also been added.

20^th May, 2007

I have updated the fauna and flora species pages with our March trip observations.

6^th May, 2007

This past March we organised a special trip to Jebel Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir, with most participants being members of ARARA (American Rock Art Research Association). The trip had a first, I have taken along a digital video camera to take video shots of most of the major sites we visited. Most of the nearly six hours' captured footage will be incopporated into the 2nd edition of the Rock Art of the Libyan Desert DVD, and some of it (in a reduced format) is used to illustrate our trip account.

4^th February, 2007

I have started work on the identification of the plant species seen during our October 2006 expedition. I have revised several of the flora species pages, and the 2005 rains page, adding the new observations. This is still work in progress, expect more updates in the coming weeks.

14^th January, 2007

During the holidays I have managed to complete the long overdue expeditions programme for 2007 and 2008. There will be an expedition October 2007 with the emphasis on Jebel Uweinat, with several days planned to explore the remaining unsurveyed parts of the mountain on foot. In March 2008 we will do the traditional "full circuit" itinerary covering Uweinat, the Gilf Kebir and the Great Sand Sea. Unfortunately the situation in Darfur shows no signs of improvement, for the time being the Northern Sudan trip is postponed indefinitely. In October 2008 we will do another Uweinat / Gilf expedition, the exact itinerary will be defined as we get closer to departure date.

This past october we did a private trip to Jebel Uweinat, primarily to explore. We have found several new sites, and finally managed to re-locate Winkler's long lost Site 75 in Karkur Murr. A trip account is now online. One very interesting aspect of the trip was to observe how the vegetation changed in the one year following the rains of 2005. The flora pages have not yet been updated with the new material, but the fauna pages have been updated with new observations and species.

I have received feedback that I have not been responding to emails. My profuse apologies, I am not trying to ignore you, it seems the email issues of the past have not been fully solved. Apparently I still don't receive some emails sent to @fjexpeditions.com addresses. This is probably due to the occasional misfiring of the automatic spamguard (unfortunately as these are public addresses visible on the web, I get around 200-300 spam emails per day), or the automatic forwarder. Even though I am rather tied down at the moment, I DO answer all emails, so if you find I do not respond, please re-send, and request a read-receipt.

A VERY HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2007 TO ALL OF YOU !

18^th September, 2006

Apologies for the lack of updates lately, it was a rather busy summer with much too little time for the desert. However I did manage to complete the identification of all the new plant species seen during our October 2005 expedition. This allowed the completion of the flora pages with the inclusion of many new species, and the fauna pages have also been extensively updated. There is a new page detailing the aftermath of the rains of 2005, including the observations of others who have visited the western side of Uweinat at the same time.

I am working on the planned expedition programme for 2007 and 2008, hope to have it finalised in the next week or so. There will definitely be an expedition to the Gilf Kebir - Jebel Uweinat in October 2007, and also in March 2008, as the situation in Sudan still does not look good. Will keep options open for a possible 2008 October date for the Sudan trip, if the picture improves.

28^th June, 2006

While I was away for the past week, someone with lots of time and less sense hacked the site, and placed a Trojan Downloader script into the starting page. If you visited the website between 19th-24th June, and do not have automatic virus/spyware protection, then you may have some malicious code residing on your computer as a result ! Check with a good antivirus / anti-spyware program. Sorry about this, apologies for any inconvenience caused.

12^th May, 2006

I have recently acquired second copies of several very rare titles on the Libyan desert, including an excellent copy of Almásy's 'Recentes explorations...'. These are available for sale together with some other items, may be ordered and paid for online through PayPal.

A short photo account of the Libya eclipse tour is now online.

15^th December, 2005

With many other exciting but demanding events going on in my life (I have re-joined Malév Hungarian Airlines in February on the senior executive level), it took some time to be able to update the website:

• Completed the account of the October 2005 expedition.
• Partially completed a project I have been working on throughout the summer, a complete species list of the fauna and flora of the Libyan Desert, complete with observation locations and dates and many photos.
• Added an account of our March 2005 expedition, that was made instead of the cancelled Sudan trip.

6^th August, 2005

I will do a presentation on the Gilf / Uweinat rock art sites (including the recently discovered Wadi Wahesh ones) at the Origines conference, Toulouse on the 7th September. To attend, please contact the conference organisers.

30^th July, 2005

In March an Italian party including Alessandro Menardi Noguera and Stefano Laberio Minozzi explored the Emeri highland, the elevated southern half of the granite part of Uweinat. They have re-discovered the forgotten fourth spring of Uweinat, Ain Duarmé (first seen by Monterin and Rolle in 1934), and have found a large number of new rock art sites. A preliminary report of their trip may be read here (in Italian), and a more detailed article appeared in Sahara 16.

Alessandro, reading up on the Monterin expeditions, has positively identified Umberto Monterin and Major Rolle on some of Arkwright's photographs.

We have also made a private trip to Uweinat in March in place of the cancelled Sudan expedition. On this trip we explored the upper reaches of the Wadi Wahesh, and found a number of spectacular new paintings in a totally new style. An article describing the sites appeared in Sahara 16, and a trip account will be placed online shortly.

15^th July, 2005

Rock Art of the Libyan Desert NOW PUBLISHED ! The long wait is finally over ! The complete illustrated catalogue and bibliography of all known rock art sites in the Gilf Kebir - Jebel Uweinat area has been published on DVD on the 15th July. It may be ordered on-line. The DVD contains over 7500 photographs of more than 500 recorded sites.

28^th January, 2005

Due to reports of rebel activity in the Wadi Howar / Bir Natrun areas, and the unclear security situation, the difficult decision was made to cancel the 2005 spring Sudan trip. However the plan is not abandoned, we shall closely monitor the situation, and re-schedule the trip as soon as the conditions permit (2006 ?).

12^th January, 2005

The account of the November 2004 expedition is now complete and online.

18^th December, 2004

With the two trips this autumn and preparing for the Sudan trip, I had little time for updates. Safely returned from the November trip, we made some spectacular new finds along the southern side of Jebel Uweinat. I hope to be able to complete the trip account during the holiday break.

I have managed to complete the account of the October 2004 expedition.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year !

10^th October, 2004

A three year-old quest is finally over ! Ever since we have found the note left by a Sudan Defence Force party in 2001 on the peak of Uweinat, I have been trying to trace the history of this climb and the associated events. I did find some years ago the SDF report on the 1934 occupation of Uweinat in the Public Records Office, which suggested it was F.G.B. Arkwright and party who made the climb. This was confirmed in 2002 by the peak log we found on the summit.

After many abortive leads I have managed to make contact with Philip Arkwright, son of F.G.B. Arkwright, who with the help of his brother Anthony, found a photo album with a couple of pages on the 1934 expedition - amazing material, including some photos of Almásy, the party on the peak, and much more. Anthony and Philip were amazingly kind, they have permitted these rare historic photos to be reproduced in their entirety on this website. The complete set of photographs, together with excerpts from the SDF Operations Diary, may be found on a new page on The Occupation of Merga & Oweinat, 1934.

18^th September, 2004

There have been updates to the planned expeditions:

• The November 2004 trip is now full.
• Following a meeting and discussion with Maurizio Levi, the 2005 spring Sudan trip is now confirmed. The dates are tentatively set for 3 - 19 March 2005.

7^th September, 2004

Nadia from Sahara-Nature helped me identify two species, the colony of unrecognised shrubs in the valley north of the Gilf in February 2003, and the small white flowers seen on the Hassanein Plateau. The flora and fauna pages were updated with the new information.

2^nd September, 2004

I will hold a presentation in München, Germany on the recently discovered rock art sites of the Gilf Kebir and Uweinat, hosted by the Kulturklub Munich (European Patent Office). Time 7pm, Wednesday the 29th September. Location: Room 102 at the EPO, Erhardstr. 27, 80337 München (Right opposite the main entrance of the Deutsches Museum. See here for map/directions.)

2^nd September, 2004

Added two new books ("The secret life of Laszlo Almasy" by John Bierman and "A Traveler's Giude to the Geology of Egypt" by Bonnie M. Sampsell) to the bibliography section.

12^th June, 2004

Annuouncing two new expeditions for 2005 and 2006, and some updates to the other planned trips:

• In October 2005 there will be an 18 day trip from Egypt, with the traditional itinerary visiting most important sights in Gilf Kebir / Jebel Uweinat (and also leaving room for some exploration).
• On the 29th of March, 2006 there will be a total solar eclipse, best viewed from southern Libya. An expedition will be made to the best viewing location, on the centre of the path of totality near the greatest eclipse location, offering a full 4 minutes 6.5 seconds of totality.
• Also the plans for the 2005 spring Sudan trip are becoming more defined, though still much uncertainty due to the Darfur situation.
• The October 2004 trip is now full, however there are still two places left for the November 2004 expedition to the Gilf and Jebel Uweinat

7th^th June, 2004

I will be doing a presentation on the recently discovered rock art sites of Uweinat and the Gilf at the University of East Anglia Sahara Conference in Norwich on the afternoon of the 23rd June (guests welcome at no cost). More details and full programe on the Conference website.

27^th May, 2004

Did a little bit of housekeeping, made updates to several pages:

• Three new books ("L'Occupazione di Cufra", Brezzi's "Cento giorni di prigionia nell'Oasi di Cufra" and Hinkel's "The Archaeological Map of the Sudan II.") and several new articles were added to the bibliography section, plus links added to the contents pages of the Studies in African Archaeology series at the Poznan Archaeological Museum website.
• The historic expeditions list was updated with information from the above works.
• The flora and fauna page was updated with several new species of plants and animals seen during the last three expeditions.
• Updated the books available section with recent acquisitions.

Sahara Volume 15 had been published recently, containing an article giving a description of the large shelter discovered on the Hassanein Plateau during our March 2004 expedition.
(Available through the Sahara Journal website.)

27th^th April, 2004

Safely returned from the March trip, exciting new discoveries were made on the Hassanein Plateau near the 'white spot'. The trip account is now available.

I have finally managed to complete the long overdue account of the November 2003 expedition.

On this trip we have visited the most important discovery in recent times in the Libyan Desert, the amazing shelter found by Massimo Foggini & Ahmed Mistekawy in 2002 May. We have already visited this site in February 2003, however this was kept confidential at the wish of the discoverers. As the existance of the site is becoming common knowledge, I have prepared a brief overview in the Rock Art section.

30^th January, 2004

The aircraft wreck at Bir Maaruf (initially thought to be an IMAM Ro.37bis) has now been positively identified as a Meridionali (IMAM) Ro.1, a Fokker C.V. built under license in Italy from 1927 to 1935. It was used as a multi-purpose military aircraft, Ro-1-s have probably taken part in the Kufra campaign (though there is no proof that this particular wreck dates from that time). From 1935 on they were gradually replaced by the bigger and stronger Ro-37, but many survived into the North African and Ethiopian campaigns of 1940-41.


(Image from www.enricopezzi.it)

The wrecked Ford (there is a clear logo on one of the components) chassis near Uweinat remains a mystery. So far we were unable to identify even the model. The strange angular hood component with triangular grilled vents seem not to fit any of the known pre-1945 Fords. The traces of beige paint suggests a WWII era military vehicle, possibly one of the SDF convoy trucks (one of the lesser used routes went Wadi Halfa-Selima-Uweinat-Kufra).

25^th January, 2004

With the November trip, the holidays and my regular work commitments piling up, I have only now managed to complete and upload the October Libya trip account. (Account of the November trip is in the works...)

The March 2004 trip is now FULL. I have received an unexpected number of enquiries for this trip, so I have added another trip for November, 2004 to accomodate all those who applied but were unable to participate this March. The itinerary will be substantially the same, spending a couple of days at Wadi Sora, then a full week at Karkur Talh, visiting the known rock art sites, and looking for more...

The flora and fauna pages were updated with observations made in Libya in October. Also two of the three new plant species found during the February 2003 trip have been identified. Help is sought to identify two new plant species seen in Karkur Ibrahim.

13^th November, 2003

Have safely returned from the Libya trip, we have found a number of new sites at Jebel Arkenu and in Karkur Ibrahim at Uweinat. Unfortunately we were prevented from visiting Jebel Sherif by the Libyan authorities (who have managed to be rather frustrating this time), so the mystery of what remains of Clayton's patrol cars still lingers.

I'm off for an unscheduled special two week trip to Uweinat from Egypt tonight, so the trip account and other updates will have to wait until my return. As I will be out of email range, cannot answer any emails/enquiries before 1st December.

31^st August, 2003

Carlo Bergmann recently announced an excellent new website, providing for the first time some detail on his amazing discoveries along the "Abu Ballas trail", including detailed description of "Djedefre's Water Mountain" and exciting new finds in the same area. These discoveries are among the most important ever made in the Libyan Desert, and will require a complete rethinking of the early dynastic settlement of the oases, and offer new insight into the influence of the desert peoples in the formative years of the Egyptian civilisation. The site is mostly in german, but there is an excellent english summary, and the many photos have english captions.

Note: some of the conclusions presented on the site are open to debate, and there had been a sad rift between the German archaeological community in Egypt and Carlo Bergmann, the background of which I am not aware of. By posting this link, I acknowledge Carlo's discoveries, however I do by no means support or endorse any of the arguments and controversies from either side, in which I wish to remain impartial until I hear the details from both sides !

28^th August, 2003

I have scanned some of the photos of my earliest travels, a trip to Kharga & Dakhla oases in 1980, and my first solo trip to northern Sudan in 1981.

Sahara Volume 14 had been published recently, containing an article giving detailed description of the most important rock art sites discovered during our October 2002 expedition.
(Available through the Sahara Journal website.)

Francis Duranthon, Curator of the Natural History Museum, Toulouse, sent me a lovely photo of a Dorcas gazelle, taken in Karkur Talh at 7pm on 30 April, 2002. Francis was a member of the French party that also made a number of important rock art discoveries. Many thanks for the lovely photo ! (Now on the Flora & fauna page)

1^st July, 2003

Have prepared the tentative plans for the 2004 expeditions:

• In early spring 2004 there will be a special trip for rock art researchers to Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir. Most places are reserved already, however there is the possibility that a few places will be left for non-specialists. This trip is rather tentative at the moment, details will be more finalised in the next 1-2 months.
• There will be a "standard" expedition from Egypt in October 2004, with the more or less traditional itinerary touching most important areas in the egyptian part of the Libyan Desert.
• For early 2005 a longtime dream is slowly taking shape. An expedition is planned to North-West Sudan along the Darb el Arbain, starting from Khartum, in cooperation with Viaggi Maurizio Levi. This trip is in very early stages of preparation, the dates may shift, it will take place when we have a sufficient group size (6-8) together.
• The 2003 October Arkenu - Uweinat expedition is now fully booked, and we're in the process of arranging visas and permits.

17^th April, 2003

The flora and fauna pages were updated with several new species of plants seen during the February 2003 trip. Help is sought to identify three species seen in the Northern Gilf and Karkur Talh. Also additional photos were added on the addax skeleton discovered last October.

I have received many additional details and photos on the tragic 1942 May Kufra incident from Francois de Wet and Jim Howey, the SAAF Blenheims force landing site page had been updated to reflect this new information.

16^th May, 2003

A paper long in preparation by Nicolas Manlius, with contributions from Alessandro Menardi-Noguera and myself, discussing recent observations of the near-extinct waddan (Barbary sheep, Ammotragus lervia) in the Libyan Desert has finally been published in the latest issue of the Journal of Zoology (read abstract here).

A detailed account of the most important rock art sites discovered during our October 2002 expedition is under preparation to appear in the forthcoming issue of Sahara.

The books section was updated with two new titles (Cairo to Siwa with Armoured Cars, LRDG Rhodesia) plus a couple of missing covers.

1^st April, 2003

A full account of our latest trip is now complete, with photos of the discovered new sites and the mysterious "white blob".

14^th March, 2003

Many thanks to Ahmed Badr for helping with the translation of the note found by Friedrich Brimmer & party at the Prince Kemal el Din monument. The translation confirms that it was indeed a note left by Almásy and companions in March, 1934.

10^th March, 2003

A number of updates were long overdue. I have received much new information, links and photos from various individuals, which I promised to add to the website. Lack of time prevented this up till now, the following have been added today:

• Received from Roger Breese, a participant of the 1963 Sandhurst Expedition to the south Libyan Desert, a series of photos of the wrecked LRDG vehicles at Jebel Sherif as they appeared in 1963. (The vehicles were destroyed in a fight with the Italian Auto Saharan Company. It was in this incident that Patrick Clayton was captured.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  What remains of the vehicles today ? We will attempt to find out on the forthcoming trip to Libya.
  
  
• Friedrich Brimmer, from Austria sent me several photos of the Prince Kemal el Din monument as it appeared on 22^nd September, 1982. Fritz and party were probably the first group since the War to locate the monument, and have found a note in Arabic and a flag of the Royal Automobile Club D'Egypte at the site, left by the 1934 Almásy expedition.
  
  
  
  
  From the photos it is apparent that the monument lacked the present cairn, it was built by the Austrian party in 1982 to aid relocation.
  
  
• Have updated the links section to include the amazing website of Reinhart Mazur listing all his travels in the Sahara (many of them in the Libyan Desert), the lovely photo site of Ahmed Badr on the Oases of the Western Desert, and an account of a recent trip to the Gilf Kebir and the Great Sand Sea by Stefano Laberio Minozzi.
  
  
• Zarzora Expeditions and Jacopo Foggini have made an extremely important discovery in the Western Gilf Kebir last May. While I was kindly informed on the very day it was found, the discoverers have only recently made the find public. Details and photos can be found on the Zarzora Expeditions website. It is hoped that this fabulous new site will be published soon in it's entirety. From what can be judged from released photos, it is the most significant rock art site of the whole Eastern Sahara !
  
  

10^th March, 2003

Back from a superb successful trip to the Gilf and Uweinat, plan to have an account of the trip up on the website in a few days on the Past Expeditions section. Highlights of the trip were the crossing of the Great Sand Sea from Siwa to the Silica Glass Area (surprisingly easy), exploration and new discoveries in the Wadi Sora region along the western Gilf Kebir, and an ascent of the Hassanein Plateau at Jebel Uweinat to explore the mysterious "white blob" (what is it ? wait for the account ;)). On the way up, we discovered over a dozen beautiful new rock art sites with paintings.

The FJ Expedition mail server experienced some problems while I was away. If you sent any messages to a fjexpeditions.com address between 20^th February and 3^rd March, it was lost (hopefully returning an error message). This problem is now fixed, but please repeat any messages sent in this period.

30^th November, 2002

A number of corrections and smaller updates were made to several pages to reflect newly acquired information:

• Stuart Disbrey managed to identify the brass container found near Wadi Sora - details on the Kufra Convoys page.
• The historic expeditions list was updated with a suppy convoy organised by Captain Dubois from Faya to Wadi halfa and back in the summer of 1942, brought to my attention by Alain Godec.
• The flora & fauna page had a couple of photos added, and a number of the species were more precisely identified.
• The Abu Ballas and "pharaonic trail" pages were updated with information gained on our latest trip.
• A few additions were made to the links and book list pages.

23^rd November, 2002

Back from Uweinat and the Gilf with a number of spectacular discoveries. We have found over 60 new rock art sites in the unexplored parts of Karkur Talh and it's vicinities, and made a major discovery along the Western edge of the Gilf Kebir. A full trip account with photos has been completed and uploaded today. Also the Uweinat page in the Geography section has been updated with new knowledge gained on the mysterious "white blob" during our ascent of the peak.

14^th October, 2002

The Spring 2003 expedition has been finalised, with dates 13^rd February to 2^nd March. The expedition is organised together with Dr Giancarlo Negro, we plan to thoroughly explore little visited and probably unsurveyed parts of the North-western Gilf Kebir, searching for new rock art sites. The 9 available places are all taken.

13^th October, 2002

Most of the pages in the geography section have been completed. Also some updates and many corrections were made in the Bibliography section, including the addition of a new LRDG book by Brendan O'Carroll to the books list.

Klaus Stübiger from Germany sent me a copy of a very interesting article from the After the Battle magazine. Apparently the Search & Rescue team of the RAF based at El Adem, called the Desert Rescue Team, relocated two LRDG patrol cars at Jebel Sherif in 1967, wrecked during the ambush when Pat Clayton was captured. They also saw the wrecks of the two Italian bombers destroyed by the LRDG at Uweinat. It is unlikely that anything remains to be seen of the aircraft today (the Kufra - Sudan track runs right beside, so they were probably scavenged for scrap metal), however the site of the two trucks is more remote, just possibly they could still be there (a detour will be considered for the October 2003 expedition). More, including photos on the historic expeditions page.

2^nd September, 2002

The books and articles in the Bibliography section have been updated. The articles listing has been expanded with all articles related to the Libyan Desert published in the Sahara journal.

28^th August, 2002

The pages in the archaeology section have been completed, including a new page on a curious stone implement found at Wadi Sora in 1998.

6^th August, 2002

Ignacio Recalde presented a very logical and seemingly plausible explanation for the purpose of the brass container found near Wadi Sora along the track of the Kufra convoys. Any comments or alternate suggestions welcome !

4^th August, 2002

Completed the Karkur Talh rock art sites section, and added the smaller rock art sites in the Wadi Sora area. The Maps and Links sections are also complete.

26^th July, 2002

Received more information from Stuart Disbrey on the meaning of the lettering "SRD" stamped on the LRDG Rum Jar. Also completed the list of books in the Bibliography section, with many new additions.

19^th July, 2002

Announcing the expeditions programme for 2003:

• March, 2003 - Expedition to Jebel Uweinat and Gilf Kebir, with a special focus on the little explored North-western region.
• October, 2003 - Expedition to Jebel Arkenu & Uweinat from Libya, with much planned exploration on foot.

19^th July, 2002

The long overdue redesign is finally complete ! As of today the new FJ Expeditions website is online at our own domain. Many thanks to Claire Spottiswoode (who was with us on the 2002 March trip) for designing the layout of the new site.

There have been a number of major expansions to the site, and many new photos have been added:

• Have completed a long-standing deficiency, the accounts of the early expeditions, 1997 - 2000.
• A detailed description of the rock art sites of the Gilf / Uweinat region, much of it based on the ongoing documentation project.
• Added a page on the SDF Kufra supply convoys, with unpublished materials intended for Bagnold's never completed history of the LRDG.
• A page on the flora and fauna of the Libyan Desert.
• Updated the satelite photos section with newly available high resolution Landsat images from NASA.